Lawmakers not accountable for purchasing of cars, says Senate representative

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Senator Yemi Adaramodu, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, says individual senators are not responsible for legal issues arising from the procurement of official vehicles.

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Adaramodu (APC-Ekiti) said legislators played no role in the procurement process.

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Reacting to a recent court ruling concerning the purchase of official vehicles for members of the National Assembly on Wednesday, Adaramodu maintained that senators were neither parties to the procurement exercise nor involved in the acquisition process.

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He said the procurement of official vehicles is handled exclusively by the bureaucracy of the National Assembly, which is responsible for determining, purchasing and assigning vehicles for legislative and committee-related duties.

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“The bureaucracy determines and provides official vehicles for committee work and legislative assignments. No vehicle is registered in the name of any senator,” he said.

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The lawmaker explained that the vehicles remain government property throughout a senator’s tenure and are only used to facilitate official legislative responsibilities.

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Adaramodu, who represents Ekiti South Senatorial District, further clarified that lawmakers can only acquire such vehicles at the end of their tenure through established government procedures and approved payment arrangements.

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Adaramodu argued that any legal dispute relating to the procurement process should be directed at the relevant administrative departments within the National Assembly responsible for carrying out such transactions, rather than individual lawmakers.

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“Senators were not taken to court. Procurement is handled by the appropriate departments within the National Assembly bureaucracy. Legislators have no role in the purchasing process,” he stated.

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The senator reiterated that the National Assembly operates within laid-down administrative and procurement procedures and that lawmakers should not be blamed for decisions made by the institution’s bureaucracy.

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NAN reports that the Federal High Court in Lagos declared unlawful the National Assembly’s controversial N110 billion vehicle procurement and allowance schemes, holding that the spending violated procurement laws, constitutional provisions and the public trust.

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The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project filed the suit, marked FHC/L/CS/1606/2023, against Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, for themselves and on behalf of members of both chambers.

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In his judgment on May 6, Justice Bogoro also ordered the National Assembly leadership to ensure that future procurement processes and public expenditure strictly comply with due process and are guided by transparency, accountability and value for money.

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The court found that the lawmakers, as beneficiaries of the expenditure they approved, had placed themselves in a position of conflict of interest.

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“The beneficiaries of the expenditure are the very officials approving it, and the expenditure confers direct pecuniary and material benefits. This, to my mind, constitutes a case of self-dealing and conflict of interest,” the judge ruled.

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Taking judicial notice of Nigeria’s economic situation, the judge said allocating N110 billion for lawmakers’ benefit at a time of widespread hardship reflected a failure to prioritise the national interest.

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“I have taken judicial notice of the economic realities in Nigeria and the widespread financial hardship affecting Nigerian citizens. In this context, the allocation of N110 billion for the benefit of lawmakers demonstrates a failure to prioritise national interest,” the judgment stated.

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The judge further held that the expenditure undermined the fiduciary duty public officers owe Nigerians and was inconsistent with the oath of office sworn by members of the National Assembly.

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(NAN)

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